A speech delivered by a presidential candidate can often serve as a peg on a roadmap. Hillary Clinton’s South Carolina victory night speech was just one of those guiding marks, an indicator of how far this race has come and where it may go.

Sending a telling signal, Hillary Clinton used a piece of her remarks in South Carolina to hone her focus on the GOP’s frontrunner, Donald Trump.

America does not need to be made great again, because “America has never stopped being great,” Clinton said in her victory speech at her South Carolina campaign headquarters.

Clinton did not stop short with her indirect remark on Trump’s slogan. She also denounced the idea of building a wall, as Trump has repeatedly called for along the Mexican border. Clinton stated the country needs to be tearing down barriers to equality and opportunity, not building them.

Clinton scored a commanding win in the South Carolina Democratic primary, besting Sanders and racking up her delegate count.

Clinton currently sits at 534 delegates which includes 452 superdelegates. Sanders has 83 delegates with 20 of those being superdelegates. The Democratic candidate needs 2,383 delegates to win the nomination.

On the Republican side, Trump dominates with 81 delegates. Ted Cruz has 17, Marco Rubio has 17, John Kasich has 6 and Ben Carson has 4. The Republican candidate needs 1,237 delegates to win the nomination.

With more candidates in the GOP race for the presidential nomination, Trump’s lead is far more diluted. Will this add up to a Clinton – Trump race? Super Tuesday will provide us with an even larger peg on the roadmap to the White House and very well could solidify such a matchup. As is always the case in elections, only the passage of more time on the campaign trail will tell.

– jared@coloradostatesman.com